'99 & up 7.3L Power Stroke Engine and DrivetrainDiscussion of the '99 & up 7.3L Power Stroke diesel engine and drivetrain in the 1999-Up Super Duty trucks and Excursions. No gas engine discussion allowed except on transmissions and drivetrain that pertain to all models. Please confine discussion of topics in this forum to those items that are specific to the 7.3L Power Stroke engine.

I'm planning on ordering a TurboMaster wastegate controller very soon, but am wondering if I might be smarter to get a rebuild kit for the turbo to prolong its life first.

I know I've seen people say to check for play in the shaft and wheel condition. Is this on the compressor side only? I'm not sure if the shaft on the input side is connected to the output side wheel too or not. Do you have to check both sides?

Also, when checking play, are you checking for in/out AND side/side movement? With 95k on the original, I just want to make sure it's good to go.

Check play both directions. Any in and out and your turbo is probably shot. Check side to side, a little is ok since the shaft rides on a film of oil. When the engine is not running the oil runs out and thats where the tiny bit of play comes from.

Yes, check Compressor (Intake) side only.

ITP.com offers a turbo rebuild service, although I have zero expirence with it...

I saw their kit and service, but I don't have a week to ship it. Plus, I heard the balancing is usually 60-75, so $300 is a bit much IMHO. I'd like to find a local shop if I rebuild it so my downtime is lessened.

Thanks for the pointers. I think I'll pull it into the bay at work now and check it.

No fooler as of yet. The only code I've set so far is the low oil pressure one under WOT in the 80econo setting.

The turbo seems to be performing great, but $150 is cheap insurance against later problems. I didn't get to get in there and look as we got busy. I found a turbo shop in the yellow pages in the Detroit area and left a lessage there to see how much/long to rebalance a turbo.

I might just have the turbo checked when I get the ATS housing put on, and then get it rebuilt later if needed. Just trying to cover all bases. Thanks

My $0.02, if you have the turbo off to replace the housing you might just want to get it rebuilt at the same time. You can put the ATS housing on without removing the turbo, I and many others on here have. There is plenty of room. On the other hand getting the turbo out the first time will take a couple hours. Once you get the hang of it you can probably remove it in about a half hour.

When I did the ATS housing, my turbo lasted about another 2,000 miles before it decided that the rear oil seal was finished. When I removed the factory turbo it had no end play and all seemed well. You can't check the oil seal condition without replacing them, so you're guessing that they are good. Instead of rebuilding mine I replaced the entire unit with an aftermarket turbo and sold the ATS housing.

My $0.02, if you have the turbo off to replace the housing you might just want to get it rebuilt at the same time. You can put the ATS housing on without removing the turbo, I and many others on here have. There is plenty of room. On the other hand getting the turbo out the first time will take a couple hours. Once you get the hang of it you can probably remove it in about a half hour.

When I did the ATS housing, my turbo lasted about another 2,000 miles before it decided that the rear oil seal was finished. When I removed the factory turbo it had no end play and all seemed well. You can't check the oil seal condition without replacing them, so you're guessing that they are good. Instead of rebuilding mine I replaced the entire unit with an aftermarket turbo and sold the ATS housing.

Where are these seals at? I'm planning on having the ATS put on w/o removing the turbo. Just wondered...

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the Diesel Forum - TheDieselStop.com forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

OR

Log-in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.